 Martin Sorrell |
WPP boss Martin Sorrell has ended his bid to block Bain Capital's $1.3B takeover of Asatsu-DK, Japan's No. 3 ad agency.
The British ad/PR conglom, owner of a nearly 25 percent stake in ADK, had maintained that the private equity firm's offer had undervalued the assets of the Japanese agency.
Bain announced that WPP has now agreed to withdraw legal proceedings against ADK, pending the successful completion of the tender offer.
It would then discuss an investment by WPP as a non-controlling minoring shareholder, according to a report in the Financial Times.
WPP and ADK had a cross shareholder and business alliance for the past two decades.
ADK plans to sell its investment in WPP, which is valued around $550M and scout for opportunities beyond the Japanese market.
Bain's tender offer for ADK closes Dec. 6.
“We now hope ADK’s other shareholders will recognise the attractive valuation and liquidity opportunity presented in our fair and fully priced offer, and tender their shares,” David Gross-Loh, Bain managing director, said in a statement.
Public Policy Holding Company grew 27.5 percent to $50.1M during Q1, powered by the accelerating contribution from recent acquisitions and a 5.1 percent hike in organic revenues across its three operating segments.
Institutional Shareholder Services advises investors to vote "no" on a compensation package for WPP chief Cindy Rose at the May 8 annual meeting.
FTI Consulting chalked up a 9.5 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $983.3M, powered by gains in its PR, corporate finance and technology segments.
Stagwell reports 4 percent growth in Q1 net revenues to $585M and a record $141M in net new business wins.
WPP reported a 6.7 percent drop to $3.1B in Q1 like-like revenues less pass-through costs. CEO Cindy Rose says 'it will take time to outpace historical losses."
